Music breaking barriers

OSR: April 27th, 2016

If you like completely whack experimental math rock, Yowie is the band to go to. I’ve had Damning with Faint Praise for a few years now, but apparently totally forgot to post about it here. A shame, really. This band’s music is totally mind-melting – in its softer moments, it sounds a bit like the craziest parts of The Mars Volta -, and I’m sure you’ll find something interesting in it! Poly-Math make math rock-tinged prog rock. Melencolia is their second full-length, after their debut Reptiles, and it’s a really interesting and melancholic – hence the name – experience. They really melt the two genres together with long and elaborate songs, the two longer ones here being in three movements each, and slightly distorted guitars playing math-like parts in often-odd-time. Very well done. covet‘s An Audiotree Live Session is basically just that: the band playing their latest EP live in studio. It’s a new, different yet almost identical, take on Currents. It’s got a few false notes here and there, but really it’s nothing to be concerned about. If you prefer the more polished experience, go for the original release, but if you like to listen to the band in a live setting, grab this one! Bird Poop might sound a bit rough around the edges, but the story behind Bird Caravan‘s debut album is very interesting. The entirety of the album was recorded in one take with the whole band. The result is this crazy, improvisation-filled experimental math rock album that sounds a bit like CHON meets Omniataxia. The whole recording session is in a video on the band’s facebook page, so check this out! Forecast Tomorrow‘s Hats, Gloves, and Grandfather Clocks is a progressive post-metal with clean vocals. The whole thing is pretty neat, and has a sort of tool vibe to it. On “Despondent Become” I can’t help but get a Greg Puciato feel right when the falsetto part ends, which is really cool. Overall a great album!

Fallujah‘s new album is a new step in the direction they were already going in with “Nomadic” and “The Flesh Prevails”. Basically, it’s the merger of ambient/atmospheric metal with technical progressive death metal. It’s very well-executed, and I’m sure Dreamless will provide you pleasure for years to come.

té (often written te’), is a Japanese instrumental math rock meets post-hardcore band, and their newest EP, 閾, came out this month. The band is pretty energetic and melodic, and should please to fans of the genre(s)!

And finally, 上原ひろみ ザ・トリオ・プロジェクト (Hiromi Uehara – The Trio Project)’s new album, SPARK, is yet another progressive jazz album from the band. I’ve loved their album VOICE, and kinda forgot to follow up with them, so in the meanwhile they released a bunch of albums I should catch up on! They really are one of the absolute best groups ever, so I hope you’ll check this out and dig it!